Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Roseann Tan-Mansukhani, a faculty member of the De La Salle University (DLSU) Psychology Department, who talked about her study titled, “Wise persons in the community: Their actions, social interactions and roles” in a multidisciplinary research dissemination conference organized by the University Research and Coordination Office of DLSU. Tan-Mansukhani is one of the few individuals doing wisdom research in the Philippines.
In her research, which she undertook in a community in Ilocos Norte, she asked community members to nominate individuals whom they considered to be wise persons, and to describe their experiences as beneficiaries of the wise actions of these individuals.
Tan-Mansukhani said that these wise persons typically assumed influential roles in the community.
Aside from being the go-to persons for advice and other forms of assistance (“takbuhan ng bayan”), the wise persons also serve as a “mirror that reflects back” to other people what they can aspire to achieve -- that they, too, can be wise individuals.
It is not only the individual with whom the wise person interacts who benefits from the latter’s wisdom. The community also benefits in terms of being more cohesive (“mas buo ang barangay”). On top of being perceived as rational individuals, wise persons are valued for their emotional and social/interpersonal skills. They also exhibit virtuous lives in varying degrees, Tan-Mansukhani said.
Given that wisdom is seen as a desirable human trait, I wonder why this concept is not more commonly tackled in the discourse of business and management. Being wise is not given as much value as being more productive, making more money, or moving up the corporate ladder.
For managers of most businesses, it’s all about delivering results and achieving the financial bottom line, sometimes at the expense of the well-being of employees and other organization stakeholders.
In his book What Were They Thinking?: Unconventional Wisdom about Management, renowned management scholar Jeffrey Pfeffer talks about “feedback effects,” which managers often fail to consider when making decisions -- to the detriment of their organizations. When companies encounter financial difficulties, for example, those who run the business would usually bring down labor costs either by laying off people or by cutting wages and benefits.
While this managerial decision immediately brings down expenses, it could have unintended consequences that are bad for the company in the long run.
First, cutting salaries and benefits drives people to leave. And those who are most likely to find jobs elsewhere are the most talented people, whose skills, experience, and insight the company needs to turn the business around.
Second, those who are left behind deal with heavier work loads without additional compensation, creating a desire on their part to either slack off or to sabotage the company.
Obviously, these contribute to worse organizational performance and make it more difficult for the company to recover from its financial rut.
Wise decisions and actions are also influenced by the structure of organizations.
In many large and bureaucratic organizations, middle managers and frontline managers are constrained from exercising their judgment in many instances due to centralized decision-making, excessive controls, and inflexible rules. They are expected to simply follow predetermined criteria and standard procedures contained in thick, detailed manuals that are compiled to anticipate every conceivable circumstance to minimize mistakes in decision-making.
Those who are courageous (or who care) enough to raise questions or to challenge existing practices are seen as troublemakers by those in higher positions and as “fools” by colleagues who know that “rocking the boat” could get in the way of moving up the corporate ladder. This situation does not only discourage creative thinking and innovation among employees but also prevents the company from developing a new generation of managers who are reflective, able to handle uncertainty, open to contrary ideas, trustworthy, and truly wise.
Raymund B. Habaradas is an Associate Professor at the Management and Organization Department of De La Salle University, where he teaches Management of Organizations and Management Research. He is also the Director of the Center for Business Research and Development.
rbhabaradas@yahoo.com
source: Businessworld
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